Gigaton: Official album thread

[VinylGuy]

As far as in public goes, is Gigaton really that much higher rated than Lightning Bolt?

https://rateyourmusic.com/artist/pearl_jam - Gigaton lowest rated Pearl Jam album.

https://www.allmusic.com/artist/pearl-jam-mn0000037730 - LB and Gigaton same rating

Yeah, it got better reviews.

[VinylGuy]

yeah, the sales numbers...really.

[Ms Harmless]

Look at how sour and dismissive people around here were about the band, though. Pearl Jam felt like it was Lightning Bolt, it seems like

I do think the time span makes a big difference. For me, it wasn't so much that Pearl Jam was Lightning Bolt, but that they had no visible interest in moving beyond it.

exactly this - they spent a decade having the extended birthday party of PJ20 and chasing the HoF, meanwhile releasing their worst records; a lot of people's worst fears (that they just didn't care about making interesting new music anymore) were realised, or so we thought

[epilogue]

Plasticky is the word for how LB sounds.

nah

[Anders]

As far as in public goes, is Gigaton really that much higher rated than Lightning Bolt?

https://rateyourmusic.com/artist/pearl_jam - Gigaton lowest rated Pearl Jam album.

https://www.allmusic.com/artist/pearl-jam-mn0000037730 - LB and Gigaton same rating

Yeah, it got better reviews.

In these public lists Lightning Bolt is usually rated as a mid tier album, and it got a lot of glowing reviews when it was released. It even went to number one.

As you can see in these public lists, Gigaton is not rated higher.

[McParadigm]

As far as in public goes, is Gigaton really that much higher rated than Lightning Bolt?

https://rateyourmusic.com/artist/pearl_jam - Gigaton lowest rated Pearl Jam album.

https://www.allmusic.com/artist/pearl-jam-mn0000037730 - LB and Gigaton same rating

Yeah, it got better reviews.

In these public lists Lightning Bolt is usually rated as a mid tier album, and it got a lot of glowing reviews when it was released. It even went to number one.

As you can see in these public lists, Gigaton is not rated higher.

As I can see in the public rateyourmusic list, The Wall is also a mid-tier album.

[Thurman Murman]

Pearl Jam's "Lightning Bolt," the band's 10th studio album, topped the Billboard 200 after selling 166,000 copies in its first week.

Pearl Jam’s first album in seven years was one of the week’s Top 5 performers. According to Hits Daily Double, the band’s “Giagton” sold 55K US copies during the March 27-April 2 tracking period. With units from track sales and streams included, it generated 62K in total first-week consumption.

Worse sales as well.

From an album quality standpoint those numbers really mean nothing.

[Anders]

As far as in public goes, is Gigaton really that much higher rated than Lightning Bolt?

https://rateyourmusic.com/artist/pearl_jam - Gigaton lowest rated Pearl Jam album.

https://www.allmusic.com/artist/pearl-jam-mn0000037730 - LB and Gigaton same rating

Yeah, it got better reviews.

In these public lists Lightning Bolt is usually rated as a mid tier album, and it got a lot of glowing reviews when it was released. It even went to number one.

As you can see in these public lists, Gigaton is not rated higher.

As I can see in the public rateyourmusic list, The Wall is also a mid-tier album.

The 106th best album of all time, better rated than all Pearl Jam albums.

[stip]

Pearl Jam's "Lightning Bolt," the band's 10th studio album, topped the Billboard 200 after selling 166,000 copies in its first week.

Pearl Jam’s first album in seven years was one of the week’s Top 5 performers. According to Hits Daily Double, the band’s “Giagton” sold 55K US copies during the March 27-April 2 tracking period. With units from track sales and streams included, it generated 62K in total first-week consumption.

Worse sales as well.

From an album quality standpoint those numbers really mean nothing.

his point is just about public perception. it is relevant for that

[VinylGuy]

As far as in public goes, is Gigaton really that much higher rated than Lightning Bolt?

https://rateyourmusic.com/artist/pearl_jam - Gigaton lowest rated Pearl Jam album.

https://www.allmusic.com/artist/pearl-jam-mn0000037730 - LB and Gigaton same rating

Yeah, it got better reviews.

In these public lists Lightning Bolt is usually rated as a mid tier album, and it got a lot of glowing reviews when it was released. It even went to number one.

As you can see in these public lists, Gigaton is not rated higher.

I dont remember LB gettin glowing reviews. I remember most outlets saying it was alright, but the first time PJ didnt brought anything that different. Even Consequence of Sound got that album as Pj's worst.

Gigaton's reviews are glowing in fact.

[stip]

Yeah, I do recall Lightning Bolt's reviews being decent, but not great. More buzz around Backspacer and gigaton

[VinylGuy]

Yeah, I do recall Lightning Bolt's reviews being decent, but not great. More buzz around Backspacer and gigaton

yeah, backspacer got a lot of really positives reviews too.

[Anders]

I personally like Gigaton more, but I can’t see much of a difference in Gigaton’s favor when it comes to ratings, reviews, sales, etc.

Any major difference is here at RM. Even in the major Pearl Jam facebook group, they seem more mixed in their praise of Gigaton. A lot of the members hated DOTC. Have seen far less complaints about Lightning Bolt.

[Monkey_Driven]

I find it difficult to engage with people who don't like DotC.

[Leatherhead]

Jesus fuck Ed sounds good on this album.

[digster]

Pearl Jam's "Lightning Bolt," the band's 10th studio album, topped the Billboard 200 after selling 166,000 copies in its first week.

Pearl Jam’s first album in seven years was one of the week’s Top 5 performers. According to Hits Daily Double, the band’s “Giagton” sold 55K US copies during the March 27-April 2 tracking period. With units from track sales and streams included, it generated 62K in total first-week consumption.

Worse sales as well.

From an album quality standpoint those numbers really mean nothing.

his point is just about public perception. it is relevant for that

I'm not sure how easily that is the case, but even if it is, I'm not sure a comparison is even possible, considering the circumstances in which Gigaton was released. I'd bet the closing of physical locations would hurt a band like PJ far more than some other acts.

[stip]

true, I was actually thinking about the review point and not reading carefully

[digster]

I didn't really think of it until now, but this is really the first time ever that a PJ record has been released that isn't also wrapped up in the tour surrounding it? I mean, a lot of what I now associate with S/T is from listening to and seeing videos from that period over the years, and I'm sure it's been similar for every release. By necessity, this time is different.

[digster]

true, I was actually thinking about the review point and not reading carefully

I do kind of wonder how public perception to your record is being affected whether you release it now or not. It seems like Gigaton came it went pretty quickly like every PJ record, but an album like Fiona Apple's, which likely would have been a big deal no matter what, seemed to be elevated even more so by the context in which it has been released.

[Anders]

Pearl Jam's "Lightning Bolt," the band's 10th studio album, topped the Billboard 200 after selling 166,000 copies in its first week.

Pearl Jam’s first album in seven years was one of the week’s Top 5 performers. According to Hits Daily Double, the band’s “Giagton” sold 55K US copies during the March 27-April 2 tracking period. With units from track sales and streams included, it generated 62K in total first-week consumption.

Worse sales as well.

From an album quality standpoint those numbers really mean nothing.

his point is just about public perception. it is relevant for that

I'm not sure how easily that is the case, but even if it is, I'm not sure a comparison is even possible, considering the circumstances in which Gigaton was released. I'd bet the closing of physical locations would hurt a band like PJ far more than some other acts.

But what you wrote was exactly my point. The numbers or the public perception mean nothing. If anyone says that Gigaton has been much better receieved in the public eye, they are clutching at straws.

Thus any perceived success of Gigaton over Lightning Bolt is more of a personal taste and RM thing. Just like what was referred to in the Riot Act / S/T discussion.